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This is a great topic!

I avoid cookbooks with small type, too much description, and unnatractive design.

For me the design being appealing is very important.

I also need photos of almost every recipe! Yes, I'm like that. And I love to see the author on the cover and throughout the book if they're interesting looking.

I cook like I read music -- to listen to the thoughts of the cook or musician, and seeing the author's picture helps me "get inside their head."

Bring on the celebrity chefs, I love 'em. If they have great recipes.

Finally, because of my dietary preferences, I avoid cookbooks with a lot of sugar and butter. I have baking books with tons of sugar and butter, but a general cookbook shouldn't have it because I eat pretty healthy. We also don't eat red meat or pork, so I veer away from books with tons of those kind of recipes. poultry and seafood are fine. I love vegetarian/vegan alternative cookbooks for their creativity.

I like lots of vegetables, a manageable number of ingredients, and a nice tone of voice in the writing.

I don't want much, do I!

It sounds strange but probably my biggest dislike in a cookbook is the use of glossy photography...... I’m weird like that! Oddly glossy photography seem to be norm in American cookbooks whereas not so much here in the U.K. Also to weigh-in on the measurements issue, being a European I’m in the grams & millilitres camp. Sorry but using cups just seems bizarre! Talking of measurements, there seems to be an increase in the number of cookbooks listing ingredients 3 ways i.e. first in grams, then cups and then imperial which to my mind looks messy. Don’t get me started on books that provide a constant reminder EVERYTIME an ingredient is mentioned as to its other variant.... Coriander(Cilantro) or Courgette(Zucchini)

I don't buy cookbooks if there are too many recipes that are too similar to what I already have, which rules out an awful lot now. Oddly enough, I don't have a cookbook with Turkish Delight, so that will be my next hunt.

I don't mind weights or measurements, but I like how precise measuring in grams seems. I did buy a cookbook that, when I took it home and looked through it, said tablespoons used are equivalent to 4 teaspoons, or 20 ml. Well that's tricky. I'm glad I saw that. I found through eBay a set of Australian measuring spoons with a 20 ml tablespoon. I figured why not have it around.

Joy the Baker, who has a sentimental attachment to measuring cups (as I do), is now asking us to "give weighing a chance." I can't make a link (I'll have to ask Jane about that) but it's in the Washington Post.

bittrette - or even better you can embed the link in the text. Here's how:

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Washington Post article by Joy the Baker

For me, I wouldn't buy a cookbook (at the moment) if:

- It was mostly Chinese or Indian recipes: I have so many cookbooks from these two genres full of recipes I haven't tried yet. They are two of my favourite types of cuisine which is why I've ended up with so many of them - but I have to draw the line right now.

- It's more than a third dessert/sweet recipes - I rarely make desserts or bake.

- It's mostly recipes that take over an hour to make. During the week I need recipes that will take me an hour or less to make when I get home from work. At the weekend I have lots more time to cook, but I also have a massive backlog of long-cook recipes that are waiting for me to have the time to try them out.

- There aren't any photographs. I do have a definite preference for being able to see what the finished dish is supposed to look like: it helps both in the preparation and in the decision whether to cook it or not.

It is a great topic! On my end :

- Availability of ingredients in my area (London or Paris, which are quite international, but sometimes there are ingredients (mostly Asian, but can also be  American) I cannot find easily in either countries...)... Or if it calls for ingredients I find too confidential, weird, or hard to find, such as lecithin or liquid glucose or  .. (for me, I mean obviously this will be very different from another country or person point of view, I will find Maroilles cheese, Espelette pepper or Cadbury fingers/eggs/whatever acceptable, and not Old Bay seasoning, because I have not found it in the UK or France yet - sad that I know)

- Feasibility of techniques

- Grams or liters measurements please (or at least equivalences, or some kind of weight measures like ounces... )

- I hate the gluten free/vegan/health trend thing, I know it is just me, but it just irks me, I would not buy a book like this. As a matter of fact I have one (something about glow, ... ) and all recipes I have tried do not work for me at all, the assembly of ingredients is odd, does not work together, and is more style than substance in a whole lot of ways. If I have to cook for someone with a real food intolerance or allergies, I will just adapt a recipe or choose one off hand.

- Slopiness in writing, quality of photographs, lack of general appeal

- Written by non chef, or someone with no food experience (cooking for a family for 25 years do qualify as experience in my book though) - would especially avoid social media star, journalists, etc. with no food experience

Interesting reply to my message to the (very good) NY Times Cooking section.

[me]   Any plans for optional photos?  I like paper, not digital, remembrances for recipes.  Right now, I have a huge stack of NYT printed recipes, annotated with yellow highlighter to remind me of the main features/ingredients.  A picture, even a thumbnail, would be nice.

[NY Times customer service reply]  (judging from her name and cute spelling, I am deducing that the NYTimes is using extremely young and unsophisiticated customer service agents)

Dear Suellen,

Thank you for contacting us at NYT Cooking. I'd like to take this time to thank you so much for being an All Access Plus subscriber. I apologize for the delay in responding. Unfortunately, we have had a high demand to no longer include the photo with the printed recipe. I can understand how this would be helpful to see the finished piece when making the recipe and I am so sorry that the photo is no longer included with the printed recipe.

Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions. Thank you for being the best part of The New York Times.

Sincerely,
Shyanne Havenhill
The New York Times Customer Care